ST. CLOUD — A Brooten man accused of trafficking a woman and attempting to recruit a teen girl had charges in one case against him dropped last week, days before he was scheduled to go to trial, according to court records.

Christopher James Barkley, 24, was charged with one count of promoting prostitution and two counts of engaging in sex trafficking an individual in July.

A second case was filed at the same time for additional charges related to sex trafficking. Those charges – one count of soliciting an individual to practice prostitution and one count of engaging in sex trafficking – are still pending.

According to court records, prosecutors requested the former charges be dismissed.

With another active case against Barkley alleging sex trafficking, the Stearns County Attorney's Office was unable to comment Tuesday on the dismissals, according to Ole Tvedten, chief of the criminal division.

Barkley had a trial scheduled to start Tuesday before the charges were dismissed during a hearing Thursday.

According to the criminal complaint against him for the charges that were dismissed, Barkley arranged for a man to come to his residence in Brooten to have sex with an adult woman in exchange for meth.

In the case that is still pending, according to a criminal complaint, Barkley tried to recruit a 17-year-old girl.

An investigator was given Facebook messages between Barkley and the girl. In those messages, Barkley offered the girl money and said, "We need to do this real soon so I can start getting our money."

Barkley also asked the girl to "get together" so he could "train" her, according to the criminal complaint. Barkley talked about having sex with the girl and asked her sexual questions.

For the second case against him, Barkley has a hearing scheduled in October and a jury trial set for November.

Follow Clairissa Baker on Twitter @clairissabaker and email her at cmbaker@stcloudtimes.com.